Examination Courses

SYLLABUS OUTLINE

YEARS FOUR AND FIVE: EDEXCEL IGCSE COURSE

The examination paper comprises three sections.

• In Section A, students must answer two questions, each on a theme, each question is worth 25 marks.
• In Section B, students answer one question worth 25 marks.
• In Section C, students answer one question worth 25 marks.

Section A

A6: Russia in Conflict, 1924-53

• The leadership struggle, 1924-28
• Five year plans and collectivisation
• Purge and Show trials
• Cult of Personality and the revision of history
• The impact of the second world war

A9: A World divided: International relations between the  wars, 1919-39

• The Versailles Settlement
• International cooperation in the 1920s
• The breakdown of cooperation in the early 1930s
• Appeasement, 1935-39
• Reasons for the outbreak of the Second World War

Section B

B3: Russia in Revolution, 1914-24

• Successes and failures the first World War
• The Bolshevik seizure of power
• Civil War
• War Communism
• New Economic Policy

Section C

C8: The changing nature of warfare, 1936-2003

• Warfare at the end of the First World War
• Changing methods of land warfare
• Changing methods of sea and aerial warfare
• The developments of atomic and nuclear weapons
• Warfare at the beginning of the twenty-first century

SIXTH FORM HISTORY COURSE OUTLINE

UNIT ONE

Option E: The expansion and Challenge  of Nationalism

Topics:

E1 The Road to Unification: Italy, 1815-1970

E2 The Unification of Germany, 1848-90

The Road to Unification: Italy, 1815-1970

• Opposition to autocratic and foreign rule in Piedmont, Tuscany and Venice; the Carbonari in Naples; republicanism and Young Italy - the influence of Mazzini to 1848; the legacy of the 1848 revolutions.
• The roles of Cavour, Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi; the role of the Church.
• The importance of foreign intervention and involvement in the 1850s and 1860s: France and Austria.
• The Unification process, 1859-70.

  The Unification of Germany, 1848-90

• The 1848 revolutions and their signifigance for Unification.
• Economic features of pre-unification Germany and their implications for unification.
• Diplomacy, war and the significance of Bismarck to 1871
• Developing national identity in a united Germany: Bismarck's relations with political parties; the kulturekampf and social policies under Bismarck.

UNIT TWO

Option D: The British Empire Challenged

Topic: D2 Britain and the Nationalist Challenge in India, 1900-47

• The importance of the Indian Empire to Britain: politically, commercially and culturally. British rule in India, c1900-14 and its impact on Indians and the British living in India: the Morley-Minto reforms.
• The significance of the First World War on the relationship between Britain and India: the impact of the Rowlatt Acts and the Amritsar Massacre on Britain and India; consultation and conflict in the 1920s and 1930s.
• The rise of nationalism in India; development of Congress and growing importance of the Muslim League; Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah to 1939; attitudes towards nationalist ideas and independence both among the British in India and the indigenous populations.
• The impact of the second World War; economic and political imperatives in Britain and India driving independence; the role of Mountbatten; the decision to partition and the immediate consequences of that decision.

UNIT THREE: DEPTH STUDY

Option D: The challenge of Fascism

Topic: D1 From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany, 1900-45

• The Second Reich - society and government in Germany c1900-1919:economic expansion; political and social tensions; the impact of the First World War.
• The democratic experiment, 1919-29; crises and survival, 1919-24; Stresemann and recovery; the ''Golden Years'' of the Weimar Repuplic; Weimar culture
• The rise of the Nazis; origins to 1928; impact of the slump in town and country, 1928-33; growing support; coming to power.
• Life to wartime Germany, 1939-45; opposition and conformity; persecution of the Jews and the development of the idea of the 'Final Solution'; the efficiency of the war economy.

Associated Controversies:

Assessment (60% of the total A2 marks) 

• On question in Section A out of a choice of two (30 marks). The essay questions questions will have an analytical focus that will require candidates to reach a substantiated judgement on a historical issue or problem.
• One question in section B out of a choice of two (40 marks) The question will require candidates to compare the provided course material while exploring an issue of historical debate, and reach substantiated judgements in the light of their own knowledge and understanding of the issues of interpretation  and controversy.

UNIT FOUR: HISTORICAL ENQUIRY

Internally assessed Coursework assignment

Assessment (40% of the total A2 marks)

Part A: An extended essay ( approximately 2000 words) which

• assesses the significance of the chosen individual or event in the short term
• interprets, evaluates and uses sources in their historical context.

Part B: An extended essay (approximately 2000 words) which

• identifies relevant issues and makes use of the relevant reading and other data as appropriate in pursuit of the enquiry
• assesses the significance of the chosen factor or event in the long-term (at least 100 years) by linking the chosen factor, individual or event with other events and forces for change in the period.

 THEME: CW23 COLONISATION AND DECOLONISATION IN AFRICA, 1870-1981

• The growth of empire in Africa
• The impact of the Boer War and First World Wars on relations between Britain and its colonies in Africa.
• The growth, nature and strength of movements for independence in the British colonies and their role in decolonisation.
• Britain's changing attitudes to, and relations with its colonies in Africa, 1939-81.